Label carrier for office equipment



Feb. 28, 1956 E. F. SHANNON LABEL CARRIER FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 Filed q l gl. 1951 I I p p I n n I I nventor 506i? FFvE/P/C/f smwwvom A ttorney Feb. 28, 1956 E. F. SHANNON LABEL CARRIER FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31 1951 Inventor 500i? FREQAER/C/V MIN/VOA; Z-M- R Q Attorney Wi es LABEL CARRIER FOR OFFICE EQUIPMENT Edgar Frederick Shannon, New Malden, England, assignor to The Shannon Limited Application July 31, 1951, Serial No. 239,469

2 Claims. (Cl. 12916.7)

In ofiice equipment numerous cards and the like are used which require to carry a label along one edge. These include guide cards for card indexes, reference cards which are hinged to a backing, like the leaves of a loosely bound book, and file folders, especially those used in suspended filing systems. A bar can be secured to the edge of such cards and the like and have a part covered by a transparent sheath, and the label can then be slipped between the sheath and the bar.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bar formed by simple operations from metal strip.

It is a further object to provide a file folder with such a bar.

It is a further object to provide unlike bars on a file folder, with means for connecting adjoining folders in a cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of the invention Will appear from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the folder and part of a second adjoining folder;

Figure 2 is an elevation on a larger scale of the outer face of the upper part of one leaf of a folder;

Figure 3 is a similar elevation of the inner face;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the bar seen in Figure 2; and

Figures 5 and 6 are cross sections on a still larger scale taken on the lines VV and VIVI in Figure 2.

The file folder shown in the drawings is formed of a sheet of card folded in half into two leaves 2 and 4. Along the outer edges of the leaves are bars 6 and 8, the ends of which project beyond the ends of the leaves and are notched at 10 to rest on supports 12. The bar 6 is of metal strip folded longitudinally in half to grip the leaf while the bar 8 is of more complex construction which will now be described.

This bar is also of metal strip but this is folded to form unequal legs 14 and 16. The upper edge 18 of the leaf 4 is gripped in the fold and the leaf is also held to the lower part of the long leg 14 by tongues 20 which pass through slits 22 of the leaf. by a transparent sheath 24 with hooked edges which engage round the fold and the free edge of the short leg. A label 26 is inserted between the face of the leg 16 and the sheath 24 and coloured signals 28 can be clipped over the sheath if required.

The long leg 14 is bent through about 30 on a line opposite the lower part of the short leg and the short leg itself is bent along a central line through about 15. As a result the planes of the sheath 24 and the label 26 beneath it are inclined at about 45 to the plane of that The short leg 16 is covered I ates Patent part of the leaf 4 which lies immediately below the bar 8.

2 This is a convenient angle for ease of reading when a number of file 'folde'rsare' in a cabinet;

Provisionis made for interlinking the'file folders a cabinet in concertina fashion. Each bar 8 stands higher above the supports 12 than do the bars 6, and hooks 30 are provided on each bar 8 projecting outwards and downwards from just'above the level of the top of the bar 6. These hooks can be engaged over the bar 6 of an adjoining file folder and, without transferring any weight from one bar to the next, serve to hold the bars together. The lower free edge of the short leg 16 is above the level of these hooks and projects to about the same extent from the plane of the leaf 4. Accordingly the presence of the label 26 and its sheath 24 does not obstruct to any extent the removal of papers either from the file folder to which it is attached or from the adjacent file folder.

It will be understood that the bar 8 may be modified in various ways. For example, the lengths of the legs 14 and 16 may be varied and even the relative lengths reversed. The folder may be secured to the leg 14 otherwise than by the interengagement of the tongues and slits, though it is particularly convenient to use tongues as they can be made during the forming of the bar with very little extra work. The leg 16 and the sheath may be arranged at an angle other than that shown, and indeed may be at right angles to the leg 14. v

The bar 8 cannot easily be bent as described above unless it is made of thin sheet metal, say 22 to 26 gauge. The bight of an end hook made from metal as thin as this may not always slide easily along the rail of the frame. This difficulty can be overcome by cutting away less metal than would be required merely to form the bight of the hook and bending the excess through about a line parallel to the top of the bar so that there is a double thickness at the bight of the hook. That part of the long leg which forms the nose of the hook may be strengthened by forming a vertical rib in it.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a file having an edge portion, a bar formed of metal strip folded longitudinally to grip said edge portion permanently in the fold of said strip and to form, in cross section, a first leg having a label-carrying surface and a second leg which intermediate the fold and its free edge is bent away from the free edge of the first leg, a flat strip label having substantially the same depth as the first leg and resting thereagainst, the first leg and label being covered by a transparent sheath of flat strip material with hooked edges which engage around the fold and around the free edge of the first leg, said edge portion being held permanently against the second leg by tongue-like means which project from the second leg through the edge portion, said tongue-like means projecting from the second leg in portions of said leg below the bend therein.

2. A file folder having two leaves, bars along the outer edge portions of both leaves, both bars having surfaces at their ends for resting on supports on a suspended filing system, one of said bars being formed of metal strip folded longitudinally to grip the edge portion in the fold of said strip permanently and to form in cross section a first leg having a label-carrying surface and a second leg which intermediate the fold and its free edge is bent away from the free edge of the first leg, at flat strip label having substantially the same depth as the first leg and resting thereagainst, the first leg and label being covered Patented Feb. 28, 1 956" by a transparent sheath of flat strip material with hooked edges which engage around the fold and around the free edge of the first leg, said edge portion being held against the part of the second leg between the bend therein and the free edge thereof, the bar with the sheath standing higher above the supports than the other bar and hooks projecting outwardly and downwardly from the second leg at the level of the top of said other bar to engage over the corresponding other bar of an adjacent file.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 818,012 Andrews Apr. 17, 1906 4 Wagner June 12, 1917 Arelt Aug. 4, 1942 Jonas May 16, 1944 Furrer Jan. 16, 1951 Lampel Aug. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1939 Great Britain 1940 France 1946 France 1947 Switzerland 1948 

